Saving Space With Furniture Design_Sara_Ferré.pdf

I
SAVING SPACE WITH FURNITURE DESIGN
Focusing on worldwide micro living and the traditional Japanese home as case-studies
MASTER’S DISSERTATION
for the attainment of the Master degree in Product Design
Master student
Sara Mendrico Pereira Ferré da Ponte
SUPERVISOR
Dr. Dulce Loução
OCTOBER 2016

AGRADECIMENTOS
Gostaria de dar os meus maiores agradecimentos ao Tomás por me ter acompanhado em
todas as fases deste projeto e prestado imensa atenção à evolução deste, contribuindo
significativamente com sugestões, questões, críticas e, acima de tudo, encorajamento.
Gostaria também de agradecer aos meus colegas de mestrado e aos meus professores por
se terem interessado e por terem partilhado fontes de informação importantes. À minha
mãe por me ter dado esta oportunidade e ao meu pai por me ter apoiado sempre. Aos
meus familiares e amigos por me terem tentado ajudar em tudo o que precisei. A todos
aqueles que responderam ao inquérito online e por isso fizeram desta tese mais completa e
importante. À Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade de Lisboa e à minha orientadora
por me ter dado esta oportunidade de explorar um tema fora do comum. E a mim por
ter escolhido este mestrado fora da minha área de estudo, por ter sido persistente em
aprender o máximo que consegui e por ter levado o meu esforço até ao fim.

II
ABSTRACT
This thesis focuses in increasing the useful living space of any home, to improve the quality
of life of its inhabitants. This comes as a response to two problems: the lack of flexibility
of Western-styled rooms, which limits the amount of social and private activities able to
do inside home, and the injust low quality of life of the inhabitants of small homes. Small
homes are a reality anywhere there is lack of space. Overpopulation in the biggest cities of
the world causes lack of space and increases house prices. If nothing changes, either there
won’t be any room for anyone else to settle down, or living conditions will worsen.
This research will focus primarily on storage design that can relieve the house of excessive
furniture. It’s purposes, aimed for the general population, will be on finding how to:
relieve the overtired population from household chores and need for space; improve our
relationship with our home by decreasing the amount of obstruction and maintenance
and increasing the amount of enjoyable private and family time; provide a solution to
having a comfortable, multi-functioning, small family home.
We will present research on worlwide examples of storage solutions for saving space,
micro homes’ interiors and daily habits. The Japanese traditional home will be a case
study wherein the focus will be primarily on the bareness of space and the floor sitting
customs. To understand the different traditional living customs and usage of rooms, there
is a comparison between the history of the Western and the Japanese furniture.
To identify the problems related to our home interiors, we will resource to a non-
interventionist research methodology of observation (with plenty of bibliographic
literature and case studies) and of survey (with the making of an inquiry using quantitative
and qualitative bases of evaluation). The survey results will allow for interpretation as to
which solutions are more recommended for each space-saving case.
The conclusions show interesting furniture concepts and home layouts that result from
mixed worldwide lifestyles and values. The results must take into consideration solutions
for the various types of Western housing construction in which they must be integrated
(be it standard or micro homes), as well as be accessible and desirable for every economic
class.
KEYWORDS
Micro Homes | Smart Homes | Japanese Furniture | Floor/Tatami Storage | Flexible Rooms

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RESUMO
Esta tese foca-se no aumento do espaço útil em qualquer casa, de forma a melhorar a
qualidade de vida dos seus habitantes. Este foco surge como resposta a dois problemas:
a falta de flexibilidade nas divisões de estilo ocidental, o que limita a quantidade de
actividades possíveis de fazer dentro de casa, sejam elas sociais ou privadas; e a injusta e
baixa qualidade de vida de habitantes de casas pequenas. A sobrepopulação nas maiores
cidades do mundo provoca falta de espaço e aumenta o preço das casas. Se nada for feito
as cidades não conseguirão receber mais pessoas ou então a qualidade de vida dos seus
habitantes terá de ser sacrificada.
Esta dissertação focar-se-á principalmente em design de armazenamento que possa
reduzir a quantidade excessiva de mobiliário na casa. Os objectivos deste tipo de mobiliário
são direccionados para um público geral e reflectem como: auxiliar a população fatigada
de tarefas domésticas e de necessidade de espaço; melhorar a nossa relação com a nossa
casa reduzindo a quantidade de obstrução e manutenção e aumentando a quantidade de
tempo de qualidade familiar e privado; encontrar uma solução que concilie ter uma casa
familiar que seja confortável e multi-funcional.
Apresentamos pesquisa de exemplos em todo o mundo de soluções para o aproveitamento
de espaço, interiores de micro casas e hábitos de utilização de espaço. A casa tradicional
japonesa será usada como um caso de estudo, com um foco na nudez do espaço e no
hábito de sentar no chão. É feita uma comparação entre a história do mobiliário, ocidental
e japonês, para compreender os diferentes hábitos de vida e utilizações do espaço.
Para ajudar a identificar os problemas relacionados com o interior das nossas casas,
recorrer-se-á a uma metodologia não-intervencionista de observação (com bastante
revisão literária e estudos de casos) e de pesquisa (com a criação de um inquérito que
use avaliações de base quantitativa e qualitativa). Os resultados do inquérito darão uma
interpretação de quais as soluções mais recomendadas para cada caso de aproveitamento
de espaço.
Os resultados reflectem-se em conceitos de mobiliário interessantes e disposições de
divisões de casas, resultantes de uma combinação de estilos de vida e valores de todo o
mundo. Estes resultados têm em consideração os diversos tipos de construção de casas
ocidentais, nas quais podem ser integrados, sendo também acessíveis e desejáveis para
todas as classes económicas.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE
Micro Casa | Casa Inteligente | Mobiliário Japonês | Arrumação no Chão | Quartos Flexíveis

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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
B.C.
ca.
cm.
CO2
etc.
n.d.
PhD
UNESCO
Before Christ (used in indicating dates).
Circa (in dates).
Centimeter.
Carbon dioxide.
Et Cetera (and so on).
No date.
Doctor of Philosophy. Also called doctorate. The highest degree awarded by a
graduate school, usually to a person who has completed at least three years of
graduate study and a dissertation approved by a board of professors.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

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GLOSSARY
Bon
Byobu
Cha-dansu
Chabudai
Datsuzoku
Endai
Engawa
Fukinsei
Fusuma
Geta
Genkan
Heian
Horigotatsu
Tray.
Folding Screen.
Tea storage cabinet.
Low dining table.
Unworldliness, saintliness.
Bench.
Veranda, porch, balcony,
open corridor.
Asymmetry.
Japanese sliding screen.
Japanese wooden clogs.
Entryway to a Japanese
house where street
shoes are removed and
houseshoes put on before
entering the house.
Heian era (794-1185).
Low, covered table placed
over a hole in the floor of a
Japanese-style room.
Irori
Iyo-sudare
Kagu
Kamakura
Kanso
Katei
Kofun
Koshikake
Kotatsu
Kutsunigi ishi
Manmaku
Meiji
Momoyama
Muromachi
Sunken hearth, sunken fireplace.
Iyo bamboo screen, rattan blind.
Furniture.
Kamakura period (1185-1333).
Simplicity, plain.
Katei era (1235.9.19-1238.11.23).
Kofun period (300-552).
Seat, bench.
Table over an electric heater (orig.
a charcoal brazier in a floor well)
with a hanging quilt that retains
heat.
Shoe removal stone placed in
a genkan or next to an engawa
(veranda).
Curtain, drapery.
Meiji era (1868.9.8-1912.7.30).
Momoyama Period (1573–1615).
Muromachi (era 1392-1573, or
1333-1573, or 1336-1573).

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GLOSSARY
Mushiro
Noren
Ofuro
Oshiire
Seijaku
Shibui
Shiraki
Shitsurai
Shoin
Shoji
SRO
Sudare
Woven mat (esp. one made of
straw).
(Short) sign curtain hung at
shop entrance.
Bath.
Closet.
Silence, stillness, quietness.
Austere; elegant (and
unobtrusive); refined; quiet
(and simple); sober; sombre;
subdued; tasteful (in a quiet
way); understated.
Plain wood; unfinished
woodwork.
Equipment; installation; facili-
ties; arrangements.
Traditional style of Japanese
residential architecture.
Paper sliding door.
Single Room Occupancy.
Bamboo screen; rattan blind.
Chest of drawers; bureau; cabi-
net; dresser.
Japanese straw floor coverings.
Partitioning screen.
The beauty to be found in poverty
and simplicity; subdued taste;
quiet refinement; sober refine-
ment.
Japanese paper.
Small chair used while sitting on
tatami.
Low table.
Small dining table (usu. for a
single person); serving tray (with
legs); Zen (Buddhism).
Tansu
Tatami
Tsuitate
Wabi sabi
Washi
Zaisu
Zataku
Zen

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GENERAL INDEX
23.12|Appendix 12: NIHOME Entrepeneurship Project
23.13|Appendix 13: Rapid Prototyping for the Home
23.14|Appendix 14: Smart Homes and Smart Furniture
23.15|Appendix 15: Composite Materials

INDEX of TABLES
Table 1. Japanese Eras
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INDEX of figures
Fig.1 Organogram of the Research Design
Fig.2 Fields of Study Diagram
Fig.3 The Great Bed of Ware
Fig.4 Section of a Japanese House
Fig.5 Genkan
Fig.6 Genkan
Fig.7 Suggested layouts for entranceway with and without accessories
Fig.8 Byobu
Fig.9 Tsuitate
Fig.10 Noren
Fig.11 Manmaku
Fig.12 Partitioning a large room
Fig.13 Sudare and Shoji blinds
Fig.14 Kotatsu’s heating device
Fig.15 Working in a Kotatsu
Fig.16 Kotatsu
Fig.17 Illustrated History of Japanese Furniture “Seating and Bedding“
Fig.18 Low chair evolution overview
Fig.19 Irori
Fig.20 Tatami Room
Fig.21 Tatami Room
Fig.22 Tatami Storage
Fig.23 Illustrated History of Japanese Furniture “Cabinetry”
Fig.24 Starway Chest
Fig.25 Starway Storage
Fig.26 Engawa
Fig.27 Engawa
Fig.28 Garden
Fig.29 Asymmetry in Japanese flower arrangement
Fig.30 Clean room with easy maintenance
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42
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45
49
50
53
53
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59
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63
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69
69
73
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87
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Fig.31 World Population Growth
Fig.32 Average Floor Area Per Capita
Fig.33 Chinese Spaceless Cubicles
Fig.34 SRO City Comparison
Fig.35 Comparison of Micro rental prices
to current studio prices
Fig.36 Evolution of population living
alone in the U.S.
Fig.37 Comparison of rent price per m2
Fig.38 Minimum available price of rent
per month for accomodation
Fig.39 Space-saving Furniture: Storage
Fig.40 Levels of Organization
Fig.41 Custom-made walls for artist
Fig.42 Space-saving Furniture: Tables
Fig.43 Kotatsu
Fig.44 Kotatsu’s Heating
Fig.45 Electrical Lifter
Fig.46 Electrical Horigotatsu
Fig.47 Electrical Horigotatsu
Fig.48 Space-saving Furniture: Seating
Fig.49 Seiza Compact Chair
Fig.50 Wink Chair
Fig.51 Space-saving Furniture: Sleeping
Fig.52 Monthly Savings with a Murphy
Bed
Fig.53 Space-saving Furniture:
Entertainment + Bathroom/Laundry
Fig.54 Space-saving Furniture: Kitchen
Fig.55 Space-saving Furniture: Homes
Fig.56 Barcelona 70m2
layout
Fig.57 Schröder House
Fig.58 Tokyo Capsule
Fig.59 GoSleep
INDEX of figures
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97
101
105
106
107
108
109
111
112
113
113
114
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Fig.60 Sleep Box
Fig.61 Space-saving Furniture: Layouts
Fig.62 Graphic of sound performance
Fig.63 Wishlist
Fig.64 Floor boxes overview
Fig.65 Concept Panel: Part 1
Fig.66 Concept Panel: Part 2
Fig.67 Development Panel
Fig.68 NIHOME logo
Fig.69 Survey sample
Fig.70 Preference in house location and price
Fig.71 Renting vs. Owning
Fig.72 Furniture Availability
Fig.73 Furniture Value
Fig.74 Buyer Preferences
Fig.75 Furniture Buying Practices
Fig.76 Favorite Furniture
Fig.77 Furniture Investment
Fig.78 How much furniture do you have?
Fig.79 Consumer opinion on environmental
friendliness
Fig.80 With which of these phrases do you
identify?
Fig.81 Home layout
Fig.82 Favorite room
Fig.83 Activities that you have abstained
from doing because you lack space
Fig.84 Vertical Forest
Fig.90 Difficulties in cleaning

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127
128
129
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133
133
134
134
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139
139
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Fig.91 Robotic Cleaners
Fig.92 Robotic Floor Dusting Ball Mop
Fig.93 Why would you use these storage?
Fig.94 Preference of Storage solutions
Fig.95 What furniture do you use less?
Fig.96 Preference in storage places
Fig.97 Why would you use these tables?
Fig.98 Preference of Tables solutions
Fig.99 Why would you use these seats?
Fig.100 Preference of Seats solutions
Fig.101 Why would you use these beds?
Fig.102 Preference of Beds solutions
Fig.103 Why would you use these entertainment furniture?
Fig.104 Preference of Entertainment furniture
Fig.105 Why would you use these all-in-one solutions?
Fig.106 Preference of all-in-one solutions
Fig.107 Preference of bathroom solutions
Fig.108 Why would you use these bathroom solutions?
Fig.109 Preference of kitchen solutions
Fig.110 Why would you use these kitchen solutions?
Fig.111 Why would you use these layout solutions?
Fig.112 Preference of layout solutions
Fig.113 What do you like about flexible walls
Fig.114 Perpetual vs. Transitory furniture
INDEX of figures

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1|INTRODUCTION
Our lifestyles and cultural practices are reflected in our interior spaces, through the
furniture that we use, giving hints of personality, date and location. The furniture doesn’t
carry its tradition and usage on it’s own. We are the ones who give furniture a meaning,
a purpose and a place in our daily lives. Though, sometimes, we may be victims of our
culture when we learn to use furniture in a way that ultimately degrades our living.
It may be beneficial to face furniture in a manner that gives us freedom to drastically alter
its features, as to provide more satisfaction to the users. Therefore, when considering a
designprocess,wecouldincludere-evaluationsofphysicalelements(color,form,material,
structure) but also of immaterial features (lifestyle, usage, culture, value).
To have a broaden spectrum of choices, it may be useful to understand the multicultural
origin and traditional use of furniture. For this, there is a need for comparative cultural
oriented studies, to distinguish the different lifestyles from which certain furniture
emerged. From this point on, we would need to identify the pressing issues that furniture
places on our daily lives, such as lack of physical and psychological space, the over-
abundance of household cleaning tasks, etc.
It’s important to evaluate the meaning of furniture in our lives and determine if there
should be any changes to it as well as to our lifestyles. With comparisons to different
cultures it’s easier to identify problems in our own lifestyles that we couldn’t previously
diagnose. Since this thesis is being written in Portugal, the main type of home with which
other foreign cultures will be compared to, is the Western home (by Western the author is
including Western Europe and North America, the main sources of information available).
The Oriental culture will be used as a comparison to the Western (by Oriental the author
includes mostly Asian countries namely Japan, China and South Korea, noting that Japan
will be the most present with the mention of the traditional Japanese home as a case
study).
In the Western culture, the author was able to identify problems related to: uncontrolled
consumerism, space vacancy, time handling, cleaning difficulties, room flexibility and
spiritual connections with ourselves, life and with nature. The author was also able to
predict solutions based on a better understanding of the problems, in the influences of the
Japanese lifestyles, and in the innovative approaches in the trend of micro living. A general
conclusion would be that emptier, flexible houses could have advantages that would
greatly improve our lives.Therefore this thesis will focus on making a deeper consideration
of the propositions presented, undergoing a deeper research phase, acquiring feedback
from the users, and making final conclusions and recommendations to the product design
field.
1.1|THE IMPORTANCE OF FURNITURE

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2|TITLE
FIELD: Product Design
Theme: Smart Furniture for Smart Homes
Title: Saving space with furniture design
Subtitle: Focusing on worldwide micro living and the traditional Japanese
home as case-studies
In addition to this thesis being dedicated to the poorest population living in extreme lack of
space, this thesis is also aimed to the general population, assuming that there is one that
wants to escape from the traditional use of furniture, and that this population prefers to
be defining how they want to use furniture, instead of letting the industry decide for them.
With this in mind, the result of the research in question will provide recommendations
to space-saving furniture or home layouts, which could simultaneously be enjoyable for
different cultures and lifestyles.
1|INTRODUCTION
1.1|THE IMPORTANCE OF FURNITURE

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3|PROBLEMATIZATION
When taking a first look at our western homes and observing our daily routines, the most
common inconveniences of our homes, how social inequality defines the type of home we
live in, and what’s missing in our homes (when compared to Oriental homes), it is possible
to identify some of these problems:
• Lack of Space
The house has limited space for fun activities with family and friends. Our belongings and
the furniture we use to store them, steals space that could otherwise be used for quality
time with friends and family.
• Unflexible Rooms
Have you ever abstained from hosting your children’s parties because you didn’t have
space? Have you refrained from having more children because you lacked space? Do you
have space for hobbies or for stretching your body?
Sometimes growing families have to move when they have a new addition to their family.
Poor families that can’t move to a bigger place may have to refrain from doing activities
thatwould require more space like having children’s parties, or practicing sports or hobbies
inside.
• Expensive Market
Overpopulation is already a problem in the biggest cities of the world. In the short term
there won’t be room for more buildings and this will make the existent houses increasingly
expensive. Because prices are high in overpopulated places, big families can’t afford to
buy needed space. There have been new ideas surfacing about the construction of micro
homes. These will sell for less money which will allow a greater number of young people
to be able to buy property.
• Needs Abundant Cleaning
Overworked and tired population has trouble finding time to keep up with the cleaning
and maintenance. We spend a lot of time cleaning our houses. This is mainly because
we have a lot of furniture that needs dusting, and a floor, with lots of obstacles, that
needs vacuuming. Abundant furniture equals abundant maintenance and cleaning. Also,
cleaning becomes difficult when reaching tight spots. U.C.L.A researchers who observed
thirty-two middle-class Los Angeles families, noted that all of the mothers had stress
hormones spiking during the time they spent dealing with their belongings1
.
3.1|EXISTING PROBLEMS OF WESTERN HOMES
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Source: Arnold, J. (2012) Life at home in the twenty-first century. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press,
Los Angeles.

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3|PROBLEMATIZATION
• Lacks a Spiritual Refuge
There isn’t a custom of having a relaxation/meditation place in the Western culture. The
bedroom usually serves this purpose for five minutes before we fall asleep, but this may
not be enough to relieve the mind and recharge the batteries.
“Home furniture is simply magical. It pays to invest a lot in home furniture as it has a
way of livening up one’s mood. If it’s good, it could make a good day great, and if it’s
bad, it could make a bad day worse—31 year old African-American male in Maryland”
(Ponder, 2013).
• Uncontrolled Consumerism
Additionally our planet is also suffering with our consumerism. We buy too many things,
too many furniture and decorations in the course of our life. When someone moves or
remodels a lot of furniture goes to waste. There is excessive consumption and production
of furniture. U.C.L.A researchers also observed that 75% of the families couldn’t park their
cars in their garages because they were too jammed with things2
.
When asked about furniture possession in a Mississipi survey3
, the responses were:
35% “I like to replace some of my furniture every few years.”
18% “I change my furniture often to keep up with design trends.”
95% “I expect my furniture to last for many years.”
• Environmental Impact
From the extraction of resources, to manufacturing, to waste disposal, consumerism is
pushing our planet to the brink. To be sustainable, it’s best not to buy new furniture but to
repair it. 63 million metric tons of wood is sent to landfills each year. 33% of the world’s
wood is used by U.S. consumers4
. 403 tons of Carbon Emissions are saved if furniture is
refinished, reupholstered and remanufactured5
.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 Source: Arnold, J. (2012) Life at home in the twenty-first century. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Press, Los Angeles.
3 Source: Mississipi 2013 survey for Furniture Outreach Program in <http://www.ffi.msstate.edu/pdf/
consumer_attitudes.pdf>- accessed 28.01.16
4 Source: <http://www.officefurnitureexpoatlanta.com/blog/2013/april/the-upside-of-used-furniture-
infographic-.aspx>- accessed 28.01.16
5 Source: <http://therefinishingtouch.com/trt_infographic_082714.html>- accessed 28.01.16
3.1|EXISTING PROBLEMS OF WESTERN HOMES

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3|PROBLEMATIZATION
Q.1 Is the current Western relationship with furniture, room usage and household
chores balanced with our lifestyles and surroundings?
Q.2 If not, can furniture design intervene to aid with cases related to lack of space,
unflexibility of rooms, overpopulation, economic difficulties, overcrowded homes or
overabundance of household chores?
3.2|RESEARCH QUESTIONS

6
The development of a furniture design solutionwhich can be integrated in a standard home
or in a micro home, with a focus on saving space, will be beneficial for overpopulated cities
with lack of space to lodge newcomers, for big families with economical difficulties who
can’t afford a big enough home to have a comfortable life, and possibly every other kind
of household.
4|HYPOTHESIS
5|RESEARCH DESIGN
This project will use a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology.
Initially a theme is chosen, and then a title and its research questions. To answer the
research questions it is necessary to have a literature review with data collection, selection
and analysis that results in a synthesis of the State of the Art. From this point on, there is
enough information to develop a hypothesis for the solving of the research questions.This
hypothesiswillbebackedwithanon-interventionistresearchthatwillincludeObservation,
analysis of Case Studies and Survey Inquiries, with a semi-structured methodology, to
validate the user’s opinion in relation to furniture’s quantitative and qualitative value—
closed questions would provide quantitative information like “how many times do you use
this furniture“, “how much furniture do you have“, “how much money would you spend
for a total redecoration of your house“, etc. Afterwards, the survey results will allow for
interpretation as to which solutions are more recommended for each space-saving case.
The new knowledge produced in this updated hypothesis will be transferred to a final
conclusion. This conclusion may or may not be contributing to the Investigating Area of
Product Design. In the case that it is, final recommendations will be made to help with
further investigation on this subject and possible investments on manufacturing.

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5|RESEARCH DESIGN
Fig.1 Organogram of the Research Design (Author, 2016)
5.1|ORGANOGRAM

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6|OBJECTIVES
• Improve our relationship with our home by saving time, decreasing the amount of
obstruction and maintenance and increasing the amount of enjoyable private and
family time;
• Have an increase of space that would allow spending more time with family and
friends;
• Provide a solution to having a comfortable, multi-functioning, small family home;
• Provide flexibility to a small or large house;
• Relieve the overtired population from household chores and need for space (by either
using less furniture, combining functions in one piece of furniture, use foldable and
storable furniture, adding an entrance-hall shoe-storage habit, or by using automated
cleaning appliances like robot vacuums);
• Add a space for relaxation and rest. Don’t depend on external services to have a
peaceful time;
• Reduce global consumption of furniture, providing environmentally sustainable
alternatives.
• Take into account the varied range of Western house constructions (including micro
homes).
6.1|GENERAL OBJECTIVES

9
6|OBJECTIVES
6.2|SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
• Use the Japanese traditional home, floor storage, micro homes, flexible walls and
modularfurnitureascasestudies.StartbycomparingtheJapaneseandWesternindoor
lifestyles. Then explore the Western relationship with furniture and home living and
identify the contradictions that trouble our daily-lives. Focus on the bareness of space
and floor-sitting customs;
• Give flexibility to all the useful space by removing permanent walls and reducing the
amount of furniture;
• Take advantage of the available space, and study the floor space needed per person;
• Provide solutions that can be acceptedboth in the Western and Eastern culture (don’t
assume that customs like floor-level living are restricted to Asia).
• Aim for a wide community, of low, medium and high economic classes. Have solutions
targeted for normal sized homes and also really small houses such as those in
overpopulated areas.
• Open up the entire house in one room for bigger events.
• Create divisions according to the needs or facilitate the constant shift of needs in a
room (be able to invite more than one friend over and easily host dinners or parties).

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7|BENEFITS
The main benefit that the author aims to achieve with this research is targeted for society
as a whole, with a special focus on the author’s own society, the Western/Portuguese.
There is a general stress environment in these developed countries and the subsequent
tiresome house furnishings don’t help with this situation. The benefits we intend societies
to achieve with this research are those of:
Providing relaxation inside the home for the tired worker. No more trips to the spa for
a peaceful time. Living time could be spent in the comfort of the house and the company
of friends and family;
Reducing the household chores. Abundant furniture equals abundant maintenance and
cleaning. The removal of protruding furniture can become very beneficial for the cleaning
processes. The introduction of a genkan space is also very helpful for keeping the shoe’s
dirtiness in the entrance;
New opening for the robotic cleaning appliances market. The implementation of
automatic cleaning robots is also easier due to the linear surfaces. Good for the markets
and good for the people.
Facilitating the constant shift of needs and occupancy of the rooms. With crescent
economic difficulties, home apartments tend to become smaller. There is no reason to
limit comfort to the wealthy classes. Small homes can become comfortable if integrated
with flexible systems that can turn the bedroom into a living-room. The arrival of a new
member to the family doesn’t need to have an added stressful difficulty of space. Instead
of moving to a bigger home, there is a possibility to create rooms when needed;
Encourageadeeperrelationshipwithnature,oneself,familyandfriends.Intheoccasions
where a garden can be integrated in the home, it will provide an added satisfaction and
closen the almost non-existent relationship we may have with nature.The lack of furniture
and the subsequent lack of chores could provide time for reflection and entertainment. It
could also become possible to easily host large dinners or parties because of the flexibility
of the walls. If, before, we restrained from inviting more than one friend because there was
no space, now we wouldn’t.
Improoving human health. It would increase attention to the floor-living lifestyle and
strengthen health analysis. Up to now there are only a few studies. One study claims that

11
7|BENEFITS
“a smooth transition between floorliving and standing is a key to health and mobility”
(Sisson, 2013). Another, is in the book, “Muscles and Meridians“, and it proposes that we
can reduce the incidence of musculoskeletal distress by taking three steps:
“We need to spend more time on the floor - in the natural postures of sitting,
squatting, kneeling; We need to be good at standing erect from the floor - this is a
basic skill requiring a host of muscles to coordinate in work together; Our feet need
functional rehabilitation - shoes are sensory deprivation chambers!”(Beach, 2010)
Be more environmentally sustainable. The reduction of furniture consumption would
eventuallyreducefurnituremanufactureandalsofurniturewaste.Also,thepropagationof
gardens or vertical forests would likewise be very benign for the atmosphere. Considering
the harmful environments we have forced nature to endure, this research could be very
beneficial for the Planet in the long-run.
Benefits for the knowledge. The collection and analysis of many of this research’s
information was accomplished with exhaustive searching. It is very difficult to find
complete packed information on these subjects. This research could serve as a helpful
compilation of space-saving furniture. It could also bring to light aspects of the impact
and importance of furniture in our lives.

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8|DISSEMINATION
This dissertation will be disseminated in the internet and social platforms. The catalog
of space-saving furniture will be shared in the format of pictures in social platforms like
Pinterest. The results of the surveys will be shared among a few design companies who
were interested in the results. An infographic of the results of the surveys may also be
disseminated in social platforms.

13
9|CRITICAL FACTORS OF SUCCESS
The ability to gather enough information on these rare matters is the most critical factor
of success. Currently the author has been able to find plenty of literature, although it was
difficult, and for that reason she still has to measure the amount of useful information
available. Using sources such as libraries and Online search engines is essential. These are
a few of the search engines valuable for acquiring scientific publishings:
http://presans.com/resources/x-search/
http://www.repository.utl.pt/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
When it comes to researching the case study of the traditional Japanese home, it will be
necessary to consult multiple sources to gather bits of information here and there.
“Surprisingly little is definitely known about Japanese furnitures since so much of
the information on this subject has been passed down by word of mouth, through
legend, or in the few texts available only in Japanese. While the discovery of available
examples of antique Japanese furniture can be enjoyable and exciting, research on
any given piece is often a challenge in modern-day Japan, where the traditional
craft of making wooden furniture has continued with but a handful of established
craftsmen.” (Clarke, 1983:1)
Making a good analysis of the value of furniture is also a difficult but important task. The
author will make inquiries to help syntonize with a broader feedback, but ultimately in
the active research phase, the author will have to come to conclusions about the future of
space-saving furniture.

14
10|FIELDS OF STUDY
For a better understanding of the relationships between the fields of study of this research
the author designed the following diagram:
Fig.2 Fields of Study Diagram (Author, 2016)

15
11|HISTORICAL CONTEXT
11.1|BRIEF FURNITURE ORIGINS6
Before furniture appeared, the primitive people lived nomad lives in constant fear. They
were always moving and so it was troublesome to invent furniture that would require
carrying. The earliest purpose of furniture served to glorify the tribe’s leader, when his
daring attitude and will to face danger allowed for the tribe to remain in one place for
long. He was named king and given a seat to occupy a central position while surrounded
by his tribe. The seat was given important value, and often assigned the king’s role to
whoever came into its possession. As the community grew, it became more complex to
lead and soon the king required advisers. These advisers were also given seats (shabbier
than the throne) and together with the king, they represented the most powerful people.
With time, tables were developed to assist with the leadership responsibilities as they
provided space for things to be spread out. Either King Arthur’s round table or our modern
round-table conferences, or high tables at universities today, exemplify the significance
and importance that the table came to acquire.
Thus, the first function of furniture was public. Thrones, chairs and tables were built for
kings and people that performed public duties. They were intended to be impressive as
they represented the most prestigious people in a society. It wasn’t until families and
private groups were formed in the tribes, that private furniture came into existence.
Wherever hierarchies were created, furniture had the possibility to help discriminate its
classes. There are images from ancient Egypt and Greece that show the upper classes
sitting in chairs and lying in bed while the slaves kneeled on the ground.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 This topic’s information source is: Reeves, David (1959) FURNITURE an Explanatory History. Faber and
Faber, London, pp. 21-25.
7 Source: Victoria and Albert Museum in <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-great-bed-of-
ware/>- accessed 31.12.14
As for beds, they were common among the Romans
and Greeks. Although in medieval Europe only the lords
of the castles had beds, in the 1500s in England, daily
lives were more established and the need and interest
for physical comfort originated grand-sized beds. There
was the Great Bed of Ware in 1580 that measured over
326 centimeters wide, and once fitted six citizens of
London and their wives.
Fig.3 The Great Bed of Ware7
11.1|BRIEF FURNITURE ORIGINS

16
11.1|WESTERN USE OF FURNITURE8
The Western values put on furniture differ from other cultures, as do the lifestyles that
unveiled them. For instance, wasting time to search for an object is unacceptable in the
West. One mustn’t be aware of the need for an object, as the object should be ready-
to-use and always available—drawing almost no attention to the fact that there is a
need. Objects must be out in the open and always ready to hand when needed. Storing
those objects is considered to be time consuming and straining to the brain that has to
memorize its location. Because objects tend to stay in the same place, walking around
the house and avoiding to bump into a table becomes a habit. There’s almost no need
to think or visually confirm where a chair is, because blindly one sits where it’s usually
placed. Each room of the house has a different purpose, either private or not, and fits a
different time of the day. There’s a place for sleeping, a place for eating, and switching
tasks between rooms is believed to be disrupting. “It is embarrassing to undress in a room
that is arranged for eating: it violates the character of the room, and also makes the act of
undressing a disorderly one” (Reeves, 1959:26).
Because daily habits are esteemed, any object placed in the home has to serve an obligation
to encourage good habits.These good habits can be both saving energy and time and being
efficient with the use. Therefore, objects that trigger bad habits, like possessive habits,
also trigger unhealthy reactions like hoarding difficulties.
The Victorian times are an example of these misconducts. People only cared about
possessingfurniture,which—combinedwiththegrowingmachineproductivity—developed
hoarding problems that inspired a culture that ignored the beauty of a balanced room, and
the good quality and good service of a useful, easy space. Because they were so focused
on demonstrating their prosperity—through the amount of furniture present in a room—it
became impossible to walk through a room without tripping in something. Round 1910,
after fifty years of steady acquisition, it was noted that homes had too much furniture.
People developed a need to reduce their furniture by emptying their homes. Interior
designers concerned with integrating furniture in simple schemes and little decorations—
to present a barer room—started this new vogue. By removing fussy objects and patterned
wallpapers and color combining the furniture with the walls, they succeeded in making
jam-packed rooms unpopular.When the decorators eventually started designing furniture,
they maintained the antique oak furniture style but opted for a non-decorative treatment.
“A room which had been ‘decorated’ was nearly free of all decorations” (Reeves, 1959:172).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 This topic’s information source is: Reeves, David (1959) FURNITURE an Explanatory History. Faber and
Faber, London, pp. 26-184.
11.2|WESTERN USE OF FURNITURE

17
Now, people try to have less furniture and search for minimalistic designs that merge their
furniture to the house structure. Although Reeves states that “(…) in rooms furnished
with the blank kind of furniture there seems no demand on the people in it for anything
interesting to do with themselves” (1959:184), it is also possible that furniture itself
shouldn’t be the focus of our lives. The interesting thing about life may not be what we
can do with furniture; but what we can do with ourselves in a deeper emotional level.
While furniture can aid in comfort for other activities, we may be too dependent on it to
enjoy ourselves. Thus the focus on furniture maybe should be placed on its functionality,
portability and flexibility to adapt to the different interesting things we can do with or
without it.
Although there is a demand for simplistic minimal furniture, Reeves for instance doesn’t
consider this furniture even to be real furniture. He values furniture that stands out and
requires care. He considers wood to be a good material, rather than marble, glass, steel
or wood substitutes, because even though it scratches, it imposes a demand to be taken
care of. It also shows a history of use that he believes to improve its appearance, because
furniture that has unbreakable, resistant materials—that don’t change over the years—are
almost inhumane, in his opinion, in a way that we can’t relate and empathize with it.
Even so, neutral furniture is highly valued for work environments because it doesn’t
channel any feelings, which enables the worker to focus on the monotonous non-personal
work assignments. Office furniture efficiently tries to get more work out of the workers,
keeping them for more hours instead of helping them get home earlier. Also, many people
live in a hurry to be done with living almost effortlessly. These circumstances often require
characterless, efficiency-optimized furniture with no interest in appealing to the person’s
personal and private interests.This furniture is consequently very minimalistic, simple and
functional—it doesn’t want to distract its users with details—and for this reason it can
also be viewed as very personal furniture, one that values space, simplicity and focuses
on the core of nature and life, while trying to connect our emotions with the purity of the
furniture.
The problem with modern life furniture, according to Reeves, resides in the focus put on
trade and industry and the poor attention put on the indoor house life. Mass production
was originally a way to produce things cheap in big numbers, which the poorer people
could afford. This way, the comfortable living conditions of all classes could be raised.
But the disadvantage was that objects were all the same and the workers had repetitive

18
non-stimulating jobs. Therefore, these objects did provide comfort but were unsatisfying
both to the population and the workers due to its lack of aura and personality. It was like
obtaining fake cloned furniture that provided comfort but missed the soul. The Arts and
Crafts Movement intended to solve this exact problem. Initiated in England during the
latter half of the 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement was inspired by the social
reform concerns of Water Crane, John Ruskin, and William Morris. Their ideals opposed
the brutal condition of the factory-working environment. With help from the rising of the
consumer class, they proposed individual craftsmanship that provided good conditions
for the workers, and at the same time, new and different objects for society. In this period,
manufacturing had poor design and quality. The revival of individual craftsmanship could
be the salvation for the workers and the population. Objects could be “for the people and
by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user” (Reeves, 1959).
Even so, standardized furniture can be useful, if well made, because too much variety, in
the daily use, can cause confusion. “People resemble one another in many ways and it is
natural that there should be some uniformity in their possessions” (Reeves, 1959:169).
As a side note, if we think of IKEA’s approach to design, we can identify satisfaction both in
users that have a large variety of furniture with creative usage at their disposal, and to the
designers as well for having the freedom to be creative and interact with intimate features
of the people’s lives. Still, as long as building and equipping a factory remains expensive,
its profit will target the needs of the people as well as their possessive habits. Therefore,
there are being produced many objects that respond to no need—but try to create them,
sometimes successfully or not—and consequently putting pressure on people to buy the
cheapest most irrelevant beautiful object. Learning to cope with these stimuli can be hard
especially for those that are already overwhelmed with work and family responsibilities.
The unscrupulous control that the consumerist industry holds on society is debilitating
to both the poor classes as well as the highest economic classes. For the poorest classes
the material possessions may become the anxious course to happiness and to the highest
classes the possessions may fill people’s lives with material objects that give no space for
slowing down the daily speed and have some peace. Ultimately, the home is maybe rarely
a place to relax the spirit and contemplate life, nature and the universe.
“So it is, more and more, that people feel they have reached the height of modern
happiness when they have spent their money and got their purchases home and are
in possession of the benefits of civilization like everyone else. There seems nothing

19
else left to do, except enjoy themselves—which generally means going to the cinema
and seeing the troubles of other people smoothed out. Of course they have worries
of their own; but because the mass-production system has trained them to believe
that happiness is in the possession of things such as everyone else has, all their
troubles are money troubles. And so very few people get to the point of living lives of
their own, thinking thoughts of their own, finding happiness in their relations with
their friends. The old, restricting family privacy has gone; but the uniformity of the
materials of life today has a deadening effect on personal contact, so that there is
even less intimacy between people than formerly” (Reeves, 1959:170-171).
Table 1. Japanese Eras (Author, 2016)
11.3|JAPAN AS A CASE STUDY
Many of the Japanese home lifestyle traditions
emerged in the earliest Japanese history, yet there
was a profound housing design leap in the 14th
century, which lingered for the next 600 years and
still retains influence in Japan. This leap not only
valued the merging of nature in a house’s interior, but
also the spaciousness in small spaces. By dismissing
the inessential and focusing on the beauty of fragile,
temporary, unembellished, humble materials that
emphasized a feeling of eternity, it provided a quiet,
still space from which the soul could deal with the
world. These ideals were professed by influential Zen
Buddhist priests in the Muromachi and Momoyama
periods, and were highly followed by the entire
Japanese society. While European and English homes
were being stuffed with rare objects from their
established colonies, the Zen Japanese ideals were
encouraging the sweeping of decorations and furniture, turning the home into a clear
space that provided flexibility. According to the needs of the hour, beds would be laid
down in the night, and stored in the day to provide space for meals, entertainment, work
and other activities (Tada and Mehta, 2005:9).
Japan has been attracting the attention of Westerner’s for long, since it gradually termed
its isolation from the world, around the end of the 19th century. The centuries-old social
PREHISTORIC
Jōmon ca. 10.000 B.C. - ca. B.C. 300
Yayoi ca. 300 B.C. - ca. A.D. 300
Kofun ca. 300-710
ANCIENT
Nara 710-94
Heian 794-1185
MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL)
Kamakura 1185-1333
Northern and Southern Courts 1333-92
Muromachi 1392-1482
Warring States 1482-1573
PREMODERN
Momoyama 1573-1600
Edo 1600-1868
EARLY MODERN
Meiji 1868-1912
Taishō 1912-26
Shōwa 1926-89
Akihito 1989-present

20
structure and traditional culture that had managed to remain stable for so long came
under enormous pressure after World War II, with the advent of rapid industrialization
and the entrance to the World Market. But when the traditional ways of life started to
fade, a fresh generation of Japanese architects deliberately tried to integrate meditation
and self-retreat to the Japanese life, producing impressive examples of contemporary
interior design (Bürdek, 2005:209-212).These, and other efforts to maintain a place for the
soul in the home, instead of facing it like a machine to live in—as would Le Corbusier—has
assisted in the perseverance of the traditional Japanese ways of life and its international
appreciation to this day. In this analysis the author is going to explore the traditional
indoor culture of Japan,while contrasting itwithWestern ideals.The focuswill be primarily
placed on the flexibility of spaces, the floor-level lifestyle, the bareness of the rooms, and
the alternative types of furniture that can compliment all of the before.
11.4|THE APPEAL OF JAPANESE IDEALS
The first aspect that comes to mind when comparing Japanese customs to the West is the
emptiness of the Japanese rooms. This is probably the most contrasting element between
these two cultures. The lack of space and the abundance of furniture versus the bareness
of space and the reduction of furniture. As a fully-grown Western individual the author
is bothered by the relevance of a full-furnished room. Yes, it’s useful to have a desk when
we need to write something down, and to have as many cabinets as we need to store all
of our belongings, but ultimately this furniture can never fully satisfy for long. Over time,
while we are filling the desk with a computer, piles of books, framed photographs, pencil
cases and even teacups, the desk becomes more and more useless. The main interest that
was in the providing of space was surpassed by the need to place our growing collection
of property in someplace free. It’s frustrating that no matter how many cabinets and
boxes we buy, the amount of things that we keep acquiring continues to grow, and in
the meantime there is no more room in the house to buy new furniture. Surely we may
end up packing every compartment or surface until it becomes dangerous to come close
to the pile of books because if touched, they might fall. We became a victim of our own
consumerism and a victim of the status that we granted to the furniture. Because we
learned that furniture was the solution to every organizational problem in the house, we
acquired so much furniture that we’re not the one comfortable in our house, our furniture
is.
11.3|JAPAN AS A CASE STUDY

21
When looking at the minimal, almost empty Japanese traditional rooms the author
gets an urge to pack her bags and move to Japan. Why is it that we have to live with the
responsibility of cleaning, maintaining and using furniture? Isn’t it enough that we have
to spend all day working for a living, that when we come home we still have to deal with
prolonged cleaning duties? If the Western accumulation of furniture had the purpose of
saving time by providing permanent spaces to do every sort of task, how are we saving
time when it hinders the cleaning of the floors and creates even more corners and surfaces
to wipe? Could the Japanese way be a better approach in terms of cleaning, availability of
space and peace of mind?
There must be a way to free ourselves from this big-sized equipment and find comfort in
some other way that doesn’t end in: us feeling overwhelmed. Alas, the author is one of the
Westerns captivated by the possibility of having a relaxed, contemplating experience in her
own house. The more she reflects about the state that we reached the more unbelievable
this whole situation looks like. How is it that we haven’t identified these problems and
tried to solve them yet? Is it because of the manipulative force that the industry has on our
notion of happiness being defined by material possessions?
11.5|Japanese Furniture INTRODUCTION9
It was around the Kofun period (ca. 300-710) that furniture appeared in Japan, when
members of the imperial Yamato clan began living in raised-floor dwellings. Before this,
even the upper classes where living in pit dwellings where the only furniture they had
were “straw mats (mushiro) used as floor coverings and door flaps, primitive pitch-pine
lamps, oil lamps, baskets, and lacquer ware with a basket core”(Koizumi, 1986:151). Still
after this, the general population of Japan continued living in pit dwellings until the Middle
Ages (1185-1573), so the first furniture tradition, that began with the move to raised-floor
dwellings, took a long time to reach the entire population. As this first furniture was built
for the upper classes, likewise was the subsequent development of chairs—very limited
and reserved exclusively for the emperor, empress, crown prince and certain ministers.
There’s a difficulty with identifying traditional Japanese furnishings because on one hand
there was never many furniture in Japan, like there was in the West, and on the other, the
termkagu—thatliterallymeanshousemakings—hasaverylimitedhistoricuse.Itsmeaning
changed in nearly every period andwith each change a piece of furniture stopped or started
to be considered furniture. This happened to a lot of objects such as: trays (bon), common
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 This topic’s information source is: Koizumi, Kazuko (1986) Traditional Japanese Furniture. Kodansha
International Ltd., Tokyo.
11.4|THE APPEAL OF JAPANESE IDEALS

22
in the Meiji era, they were used as individual settings for meals but since the adoption of
the Western dining table they have since ceased to be regarded as kagu; tatami floor mats
that in ancient and medieval Japan covered all of a house’s floor, were replaced by built-in
flooring and thus removed from the modern notion of kagu; and doorway curtains (noren)
were also once an important type of partition but have now fallen to disuse.
Another important characteristic that should come to context is that the Japanese
have traditionally lived at floor level. Even though most cultures evolved from floor-
level lifestyles, the Japanese retained this custom. Despite having come in contact with
the chair-seating lifestyles—brought by foreigners many times over the centuries—the
Japanese chose to remain at floor-level until the end of World War II, and this practice
greatly shaped the traditional Japanese furniture. Because of this floor-level lifestyle
there was no need to incorporate legs into furniture to raise it for seating or reclining.
Thus, everything stayed low and easy to reach from a floor seated position. Then, because
furniture stayed low, and the people were seated when interacting with it, the furniture
had mainly one frontal perspective when looking at it. Thus only frontal designs were
taken into account. The sides and back of the furniture had little to no concern.
Shitsurai is an important notion—dating back to the mid-Heian period—that shaped
furniture to fit a standard architectural frame from the floor up. This style was defined
by bareness of the interiors and comprised a structure with almost only wood floors and
columns. From this structure there were developed partitions to divide areas, in the shape
of doorway curtains (noren) and folding screens (byobu). Tatami mats would also cover
the floors and a low table or free-standing shelf would be placed in the room to provide
functionality. Shitsurai thus symbolized the ability to give different purposes to a room by
arranging articles.This providedversatility to the rooms of the (aristocratic) shinden-styled
villas, when before, rooms didn’t have a special purpose—like dining or sleeping chambers.
Eventually the shinden-style developed into the shoin-style, with fully partitioned rooms
and continued to evolve up to modern times, while preserving the practice of shitsurai
through every style. But still in modern times, the partitions were nothing like Western or
Chinese walls. These shitsurai traditional, “set in place” products consisted in removable
sliding door panels (fusuma), translucent washi paper panels (shoji), and a whole lot of
similar independent partitions. There was also a tendency to convert portable furniture
into built-in furniture thus losing their occasional appearance in the room. “Free-standing
shelves soon came to be built in place, while cabinets for bedding were tucked away in the
walls as oshiire (literally ‘push-in’ bedding closets)” (Koizumi, 1986:11).
11.5|JAPANESE FURNITURE INTRODUCTION

23
Thesystematizationofstandardizeddimensionsandstackablefurniturewascharacteristic
of the Japanese traditional furniture although it was only accomplished in the West from
thestartofindustrialization.Standarddimensionswerecommonbetweeninterchangeable
modular furnishings, such as tatami, fusuma and shoji panels that still have today the same
90 x 180 centimeters. Tansu as well, (storage cabinetry) can be modular and stackable,
chest-on-chest, and broken down to carry by attached handles. Even tray-tables were able
to be stacked to impressive heights—this ability was extremely used in restaurants and
traditional inns.
The linearity of the Japanese furniture can resemble very box-like forms. Tansu and
tables have very simple block like forms—except for the ceremonial tables that exhibit
more fluidity. Similar to the architecture, there are little curves or decoration, like in the
voluptuous Western compositions. Instead of having interest in the complexity of the
forms, the Japanese focused on surface treatment techniques. There are two types of
applications for wood: “a cosmetic application of lacquer or decorative maki-e lacquer
designs, typically in delicate, lyrical pictorial representations or symbols from nature;
anotheristherenderingofthewooditselfintotheobjectofestheticappreciation“(Koizumi,
1986:12). The last one is applied to light colored woods—such as cypress, cryptomeria,
pine, paulownia and magnolia—and intends either to accentuate the natural raw beauty
of unfinished wood (shiraki) or to emphasize the alluring wood-grain effect (moku-me).
“Of the two, the eye attuned to plain, unfinished shiraki seems a uniquely Japanese
sensibility. Elsewhere in the world, the taste for wood grain runs strong: in the
West, from Gothic to English country furniture, and particularly in Baroque and
Rococo furniture parquetry; in the Orient, Chinese and Korean Yi dynasty chests are
exemplary. Yet probably no other culture exhibits such fondness for fresh, clean,
planed wood surfaces. Very recently, some furniture coming out of Scandinavia in
particular, has begun to feature plain pine for its esthetic value, but this is largely due
to a Japanese influence on the vocabulary of Modernism” (Koizumi, 1986:13).
Simplicity is another important feature, as there appeared to be no desire to produce
complicated combinations from different materials. Contrary to the European furniture
that mixed wood, leather, metal and even stone, the Japanese preferred not to go further
than a simple wood with metal fittings combination. Lastly there is a general inclination
for asymmetry—that can be explored in the esthetic values of wabi-sabi among others—
which basically takes pleasure from a balanced inconsistency. This propensity extended

24
to the gardens, the architecture, the plastic and decorative arts and was opposite to the
broad appreciation of symmetry in the West.
In much the same way that furniture can be destined for different social classes, in Japan,
furniture can also have different formal uses.The formality is defined by its symmetry: “(…)
the most formal designs display an exacting symmetry, while semi-formal and informal
styles are progressively freer in conception” (Koizumi, 1986:12).When attempting to create
an asymmetric form, one should stop at an almost balanced point. The key for a genius
design is the sensibility to find that point. This categorization of formality is present in
other areas such as in calligraphy where there are formal, semi-formal and cursive scripts
(shin, gyo and so).
5.2.6|A Floor-Seated Culture10
“If people know anything at all about Japan, they know that the Japanese sit on the floor”
(Koizumi Kazuko, 1986:149).
The Japanese custom of sitting on the floor has shaped the world of Japanese furniture to a
great extent, while surviving through many years of foreign exposure to seating-lifestyles.
This firm habit arouses an interest to explore its history and persistence.
The earliest record of the arrival of the chair to Japan took place in the late Kofun period (ca.
300-552). After its continental introduction, it was used among the members of the ruling
class that were concerned with having a Chinese lifestyle. However, the subsequent Heian
period (794-1185) enclosed Japan to isolation that ultimately made the chair disappear.
The second contact with chairs came with the Sung-dynasty Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, in
the Kamakura period (1185-1333). This time it was the upper-class samurai that enjoyed
sitting in chairs, when coming to Zen temples, in imitation of the head priests. Again,
the chair lost its interest, after the common people didn’t adopt it. The third time came
in the Momoyama period (1573-1600) with the Spanish and Portuguese missionaries and
traders. The chair was placed again in the use of upper-class samurai—and also of wealthy
merchants and entertainers—only to die out once more. And it wasn’t until the Meiji era
(1868-1912), after the chair was reintroduced from the West, that the practice finally
caught on in Japan.
Approaching this question in an anthropological way, there are three main reasons behind
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 This topic’s information source is: Koizumi, Kazuko (1986) Traditional Japanese Furniture. Kodansha

25
the historic global change from floor-sitting to chair-sitting lifestyles. The first reason
derived from the desire to avoid the dampness and chill of the ground. This reason didn’t
affect the Japanese culture because from the very first architectural structures—that were
introduced by the Asian continent around the 3rd to 2nd centuries B.C.—the floor was
elevated to provide a barrier from moisture, in grain storehouses and ruling clans’ living
quarters.
The second reason had the purpose of distinguishing the ruling class from other people,
and the third reason—purely coincidental because it depended on historical, political or
geographiccircumstances—wasforeigndominationorinfluence.IntheEuropeanexample,
the chair was born in Egypt, and then passed through Mesopotamia and influenced
Greece, and consequently Rome, when Greece was dominated. Afterwards came the
Byzantine civilization that was able to spread the tradition all over Europe. As for Japan,
this factor is more complicated and left to speculation. One possible reason for the lack of
chair influence could be Japan’s purposeful isolation from the outside world as well as its
position as an island in the Far East. Also, during the times that the chair came to Japan,
it was always regarded as a curious object. People had no real connection to whoever
integrated the chair in their style of living. Apart from this, the Japanese have historically
preserved strong traditional values and remained conservatory with many aspects that
had only minor changes since the Kofun period (ca. 300-710) to the present day.
Itwas actually only afterWorldWar II and the improvement in the means of transportation
and communication with the outside world, that Japan finally adopted the Western
furniture, and with it, a chair leveled lifestyle. Combined with the desire to forget about
the past national defeat, the growing economic ability of the population and the new
industrialized mass production that lowered prices, helped to establish a new cultural goal
that was the comfortable American lifestyle (it came with the living-room, the kitchen
and the children’s room furnishings such as chairs, tables and beds).
“Thus, according to a 1983 nationwide survey conducted by the Japanese Government
Economic Planning Agency, 65.1% of all households (farming house-holds included)
had dining-room sets (dining table and chairs), 47.7% had Western-style beds, and
40.5% had sitting-room sets (sofa, armchairs, and coffee table).
Nonetheless, the majority of Japanese hold a special place in their hearts for tatami-
floored rooms and traditional furnishings. Even today, apartments and houses
11.6|A FLOOR-SEATED CULTURE

26
will generally have one Japanese-style room. In fact, many busy urbanites find the
simplicity of a room with tatami and tansu a refreshing and soothing change of pace
from their all-too-western surroundings, and dream of someday retire to a Japanese-
style villa. And it should be noted that they are probably not alone, for furnishings
and other accoutrements of Japanese living are now cherished abroad as among
the finest in the world, providing a welcome touch to homes everywhere” (Koizumi,
1986:177).
11.6|A FLOOR-SEATED CULTURE

27
The traditional Japanese living room has little furniture, tatami mats covering the floor,
and preferably a view to the garden. While a Western room has clearly defined functions
(either for dining, living or sleeping), in the traditional Japanese house, one room can act as
several Western rooms by being able to have several functions, each of them determining
the size of the room at the time (Yagi, 1982).
This was possible because the Japanese architecture focuses the support of the roof on
pillars and not on solid permanent walls, in comparison to the West. Thus, there was an
opportunity to develop movable partitioning such as sliding doors and folding screens
that made the rooms easily changeable, by joining and separating spaces. It became very
useful to totally remove all partitioning and create a large room when accommodating a
large number of guests, as well as creating small rooms for a guest’s unexpected private
need. This attribute was also convenient for adapting to the season’s climate. When in
Summer—with hot temperatures—the house could have a soft breeze if partitions were
removed. And in the freezing Winter, by creating small divisions the heating produced
could be trapped and preserved for an energy efficient consumption (Yagi, 1982).
The custom of floor sitting was one reason for the reduced amount of furniture in a
traditional Japanese house. The tatami mats served as a kind of chair, table and bed at the
same time, and the few storing furniture that existed was fitted in a wall closet. It was
common to store articles away after using them, returning the availability of the space
for other functions. So the futon mattresses, pillows and blankets were brought out and
laid in the tatami floors at night, and stored in the morning. Afterwards a low table and
floor cushions would be placed in the room for the family meal and then cleared to let
the family convene for the rest of the night and perform other activities such as watching
television (Yagi, 1982).
Today, Japanese houses combine Japanese and Western-styled rooms. There is at least one
Japanesestyled-roominanumberofhouses.Thesearebaredtoaminimum,complemented
with tatami mats and can be used as a drawing room, a guest room, or simply a place
of retreat. “For many Japanese, a simple, uncluttered tatami room does-wonders for the
soul” (Yagi, 1982:43).
“Understanding the traditional blueprint will help you think about the aspects of
the Japanese lifestyle that you might wish to adapt, such as removing shoes and
storing them in a cabinet in the foyer, sleeping on a futon close to the mild aroma of
tatami mats of a woven straw, or relaxing in a deep soaking tub up to your shoulders
12|THE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE HOUSE

28
with a view of a garden at the end of a busy day. It will also help you to think about
floor plans differently. You might opt to omit one or more permanent walls in favor
of sliding partitions or expand the view of the garden through larger windows or
openings” (Gong and Parramore, 2009).
12.1|Structure11
The Japanese housing construction consists of an outer wood frame and a covering roof.
Inner walls aren’t part of the structure as a result of the need for cross ventilation during
the hot and humid seasons. Unlike the Western building method that consists on first
building every separating wall and in last place the roof, the Japanese leave the inner walls
for last. These walls don’t even have to enclose the house, they can be supporting posts
or movable partitions, in the way that they can open the interior space and join it to the
exterior. Nature is in fact the ultimate goal of Japanese architecture, and as a result, the
Japanese house can be divided in three spaces: exterior, intermediate and interior. The
exterior representing the garden; the interior representing the space in which to spend
most of the time; and lastly the intermediate space serves as a bridge between them, as
it tries to bring nature closer to the interior while still providing protection and security
from the exterior.
12.2|Genkan12
The Japanese home, in addition to being divided in interior and exterior spaces, has an
intermediate space occupied by an entranceway, a veranda and multiple screenings. In
this way, the Japanese home is a shelter while at the same time keeping contact with the
Fig.4 Section of a Japanese house (Yagi,1982)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 This topic’s information source is: Yagi, Koji (1982) A Japanese Touch For Your Home. Kodansha
12 This topic’s information source is:
Gong, C. and Parramore, L. (2009) JAPAN HOME Inspirational Design Ideas. Tuttle Publishing,
Singapore.;
Yagi, Koji (1982) A Japanese Touch For Your Home. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo.
12.1|STRUCTURE

29
nature outside.
This division between inside and outside is demarked by behavior: leaving the shoes in the
entrance way is how we enter the privacy of the home. The physical division is made from
a ground-level entry where the shoes are removed, that may use stone—kutsunigi ishi is a
shoe removal stone placed in a genkan or next to an engawa (veranda)—instead of wood
floors (there are other fairly similar layouts). It marks the boundary between the unclean
outside and the intimate clean of the inside.
The furniture in the genkan or entranceway comes with not much more than a cushion or
a chair (for people to sit while taking their shoes off) and a cabinet where family members
and visitors who are staying overnight can leave their shoes. The storage can be a sliding
built-in compartment in the wide step that symbolizes the beginning of the interior
space. If the stay won’t be prolonged, the shoes may not be stored but only placed facing
outwards for an easy slip when leaving. Also easy to slip on, when going to the garden, are
special wooden sandals called geta.
The decoration is minimal and it is common to be able to see the garden from the
entranceway. Since this room is also used for conducting business, there is usually a wall,
a screen or a curtain separating it from the rest of the house, allowing the family life to
proceed as normal during these visits.
Fig.7 Suggested layouts for entranceway with and without accessories (Yagi, 1982)
Fig.5 Genkan (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
Fig.6 Genkan (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
12.2|GENKAN

30
12.3|Screening Devices13
“It is an accepted fact that natural light has a positive effect on our psychological
state of mind, enhancing creativity and productivity. It also helps reduce reliance
on artificial light, thereby mitigating that increasingly familiar measure, the carbon
footprint.This partly explains why shoji screens, sliding panels of paper attached to a
wooden lattice, are perhaps the most popular Japanese design element incorporated
into Western interiors” (Gong and Parramore, 2009: 86).
Folding screening (byobu), single-panel screens (tsuitate), doorway curtains (noren),
sudare blinds, and running curtains (manmaku) are all part of a furniture category called
byôshogu, whose role may be to break down the lines of vision, to protect the sleeper from
cold drafts, to create divisions or to simply decorate the interiors.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Koizumi, Kazuko (1986) Traditional Japanese Furniture. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo;
Gong, C. and Parramore, L. (2009) JAPAN HOME Inspirational Design Ideas. Tuttle Publishing, Singapore;
Yagi, Koji (1982) A Japanese Touch For Your Home. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo;
W. Barr, Cameron (1999) The Japanese Way of Keeping their Homes Warm in <http://www.csmonitor.
com/1999/1231/p7s1.html>-accessed 16.05.16;
Fig.8 Byobu. Source: <https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/3b/
d6/ac/3bd6ac3de510c7bd62cd9e3de824055c.jpg>- accessed 11.06.16
Fig.9 Tsuitate. Source: <http://takebamboo.com/
screen/image/bam04n.jpg>- accessed 11.06.16
Fig.10 Noren. Source: <https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/
a8/62/67/a86267bd044181184c69e6de1a33dcee.jpg>- accessed 11.06.16
Fig.11 Manmaku. Source: <http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-5c-20/chief_
hopi/folder/262956/47/11487147/img_1?1401723056>- accessed 11.06.16
12.3|SCREENING DEVICES

31
These partition devices come in a varied sort of materials: there are paper panels, cloth,
shoji panels, reeds, imported rarewoods, domesticwoods, bamboo andwire mesh. Sudare,
woven blinds of reed or bamboo—still used in the old capitals of Kyoto and Nara—usually
replaced shoji panels in the Summer. They were placed inside, hanged from the windows,
and were indispensable for shading out the sun while letting a breeze in the Summer. They
allowed for privacy as they allowed those inside to see out, while only letting out blurry
silhouettes of the interior. To remove them it was as easy as rolling them up. There are
three varieties: bamboo blinds (take-sudare), reed blinds (yoshi-sudare) and Iyo bamboo
blinds (Iyo-sudare).
Tsuitate can serve to visually conceal or enhance and can be used indoors as well as
outdoors. Indoors they are usually placed between engawa verandas and drawing rooms,
in the genkan or at the entrance of the sleeping quarters (Koizumi, 1986:91). Opaque
sliding partitions known as fusuma—sometimes painted with nature scenery—were used
as closet doors or room dividers and were covered with gold-leaf paper that reflected light
in the inside.
The amount of natural light in a Japanese room can be managed through the use of
translucent shoji panels. While paper shoji can diffuse strong sunlight, the gold-leaf
folding screen at the opposite side, can reflect it. Furthermore, shoji screens can adjust
the exterior in a visible frame while visually protecting the residents from the neighboring
houses. Shoji panels were intrinsically incorporated in the family life. They implicated
annual maintenance tasks that were happily taken, especially by the children.The children
did like repairing the shoji panels because it allowed for creativity in the shapes of the
paper patches that cast fun shadows, but they also enjoyed tearing the shoji panels while
playing. These panels were commonly composed of washi paper, Japanese hand-made
paper also applied to umbrellas due to resistance to the rain. (Gong and Parramore,
2009:10,32,86).
Fig.12 Partitioning a large room (Gong and Parramore, 2009) Fig.13 Sudare and Shoji blinds (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
12.3|SCREENING DEVICES

32
12.4|Dining Furniture
Traditional dining surfaces were comprised of tray-tables (zen), boxed tray-tables
(hakozen), dining tables (chabudai and zataku), and box-legged trays (kakeban). There was
a communal use of a dining table—the daiban banquet table—in the Heian period (194-
1185), although the custom was replaced by individual tray-tables in the Middle Ages (1185-
1573). It was only with the introduction of Western furniture in the Meiji era (1868-1912) in
the cities—and the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926 - present) eras in the countryside—
when a communal dinning custom returned in the form of a low chabudai. Indicated for
floor seating, the chabudai table—which could be round, oval or rectangular—also had
collapsible legs for an easy storage.The zataku table later emerged from the dissemination
of the chabudai table, as special dining furniture to use when entertaining guests (Koizumi,
1986).
Recently, a low table called kotatsu became very popular due to its central electric heating
device, attached to the bottom of its surface. Since the Winter seasons are very cold in
Japan—and the houses were made for surviving the Summer—keeping the house warm
can become very costly. The kotatsu came to assist this problem providing not only an
infrared heating device but also a removable dining surface that can maintain the heat.
This removable surface allows for the tucking of a thick blanket that can cover the legs of
all family. In the Summer this cover can be removed. Perfect for cold days in theWinter, it is
commonly used for comfortably dining and gathering at night. When a family is set under
a kotatsu table, there may be little space under it for everyone’s legs and so sometimes it’s
placed on top of a sunken floor area called horigotatsu, to facilitate the placing of the feet
and allow for a more comfortable position. The person can either sit directly on the floor
or on top of a zaisu (a legless chair). Other modern ways to
heat the house may consist of floor heating through hot
water piping or electric mats (Gong and Parramore, 2009;
W. Barr, 1999).
Fig.16 Kotatsu. In the summertime, the table
frame is stored in a floor cavity and covered either
with a piece of tatami or wood (W. Barr, 1999).
Fig.14 Kotatsu’s heating device. Source:
<http://travelista1.files.wordpress.
com/2012/02/kotatsu.jpg>- accessed 31.12.14
Fig.15 Working in a Kotatsu. Source: <http://
s3files.core77.com/blog/images/kotatsu2.
jpg>- accessed 31.12.14
12.4|DINING FURNITURE

33
12.5|LOW AND LEGLESS CHAIRS
Whendealingwithafloor-sittingculturesuchastheJapanese,it’simportanttounderstand
what the contextual role of the chair is—in the West it’s one of the most valuable pieces
of furniture—so that the apparently uncomfortable floor-living positions can look more
plausible for a Westerner.
For the purpose of the following compilation the author intended to compare the
evolution of the chair in a floor-sitting culture, such as the Japanese, and in a medium-to-
high-sitting culture such as the Western. However, after a lot of research difficulties the
author learned that there was not enough information about the chair evolution in Japan.
Although maybe hard to believe (if we think of how many books there are on chair design
in the Western culture), Kazuko Koizumi explained it in “Traditional Japanese Furniture”:
“Since neither chairs nor raised beds were used in the traditional Japanese home, the
variety of zagagu, furnishings for sitting and reclining,was extremely limited. Articles
for raised seating—koshikake, literally ‘furnishings on which to hang the hips’—can be
counted on the fingers of one hand: bentwood chairs (kyokuroku), benches (endai),
campstools (shogi), and stools (ton)” (1986:99).
Apart from famous Japanese designer chairs, that are rarely low leveled, there is almost
to no information on low level chairs in Japan until the year of 2000. For this reason the
author chose to collect the lowest leveled Western chairs instead, for that time period
until the year 2000. From the 1900s to the year of 2000 we are presenting chairs produced
in Europe and the USA that had close-to-the-floor levels. From 2000 to 2010 we are
showing modern commercial Japanese chairs that were inspired by their traditional sitting
culture. Although zaisu chairs were already produced before the year 2000, there isn’t any
information available about the first mass-produced zaisu chair. Still not with a traditional
zaisu shape, these were the only zaisu chairs the author could find information about, in
the decade of 2000. Their materials diverge from plywood to hard wood but typically a
zaisu chair won’t move away from this material unless the purpose is comfort instead of
assistance in the everyday floor-sitting tradition.
Fig.17 Illustrated History of Japanese Furniture “Seating and Bedding“ (Koizumi, 1986:216)

34
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
The following chronologic figure, by the author, contains an overview of the evolution of
American, European and Japanese low chairs from 1900 to 2010.14
Fig.18 Low chair evolution overview (Author, 2014)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 For a complete historic study you can consult Appendix 1: “American, European and Japanese Low
Chairs from 1900 to 2010” by the author.

35
The current living installments are no longer appropriate
for the traditional irori hearth, but sunken areas didn’t
cease to exist in the Japanese room. Like mentioned before,
the horigotatsu holds the legs under a kotatsu table—now
one of the main sources for heating. “In 1997, two-thirds of
Japanese homes had an electric carpet - the modern-day
irori - and 81 percent had a kotatsu, although today they
are warmed by electricity, not glowing coals” (W. Barr,
1999). Although old-fashioned, iroris are recently growing
among the Japanese urban dwellings.
12.7|Tatami15
Spread around the entire Japanese traditional floors, the
tatami mats were made from woven straws and measured
approximately 90 x 180 cm. Their sizes were standardized
and determined by human measurements. In the same
way that bricks were made proportionally to the size of a
hand, tatami mats were designed to fit a sleeping person
or two standing people. Because of its standardization and
relation to other standardized elements, like partitioning
devices, the combination of tatami mats was used to
establish the size of a room.
They were permanently settled for standing (shoe-less),
sitting and sleeping. For sleeping it was customary to
place a futon mattress, which provided a surprisingly
comfortable way to sleep. In the morning the futon would
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Koizumi, Kazuko (1986) Traditional Japanese Furniture. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo;
Gong, C. and Parramore, L. (2009) JAPAN HOME Inspirational Design Ideas. Tuttle Publishing, Singapore;
12.6|Irori
The Western living-room fireplace had its equivalent in the form of an indoor hearth in
the traditional Japanese house. Cut into the floor, it offered heating for the gathered
people and it was where some cooking preparations took place—like the tea brewing. It
was placed in the middle of the room to allow for a 360º degree heating—contrary to the
wall-built Western fireplaces. Because there was little furniture, the proximity to the irori
was increased as well as the feeling of intimacy of the gathering.
Fig.19 Irori (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
Fig.20 Tatami Room (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
Fig.21 Tatami Room. Source: < https://www.hai-
kudesigns.com/assets/images/furniture/tatami/
tatami1-large.jpg>- accessed 31.12.14
12.6|IRORI

36
be stored away to make the room accessible. Even today when a Japanese room has a bed
it is usually a low-platform one.
It was also important to let the tatami floor breathe and occasionally air in the sun.
Its continuous presence throughout the centuries lead to a general feeling among the
Japanese of familiar pleasure when interacting with tatami mats. They are appreciated for
their smell, touch, comfort and relationship to the traditional Japanese culture.
12.8|Tatami Storage 高床式畳収納
When houses in Japan became more Westernized, they still maintained at least one room
with the traditional style. Tatami mats are one of the most common ways to make a
room into a traditional style. Nowadays there are other ways to integrate the tatami, for
example in the form of floor boxes with storage and tatami lids. On top of these boxes
they can have tea ceremonies or family gatherings in a more traditional way.
Sometimes this storage can include a hole in the middle, equivalent to the original
horigotatsu, where they can put a table on top. There are many different kinds of boxes
available, some with electrical sockets, and all approaches seem to suggest it’s used only
for a parcial covering of a room. They don’t have the purpose of replacing all the floor,
although in Japan that would be easy to do because the houses have standard dimensions,
measured by the number of tatami mats in lenght and width. It’s possible the reason
people don’t cover all the floors with this tatami storage, hence imitating the traditional
room, is because it would either: be very expensive (the second photo sells the set for
1,882.44€), have no valuable advantage to just filling a room with tatami when there’s
no need for extra storage, or it would leave all of the options with underneath drawers
unfunctional.
Searching for these boxes in the internet could only be fully achieved when searching with
the Japanese alphabets.
高床式畳 - Stilts tatami
高床式畳収納 - Stilts tatami storage
掘りごたつ - Horigotatsu
12.7|TATAMI

37
12.9|Tansu17
OneofthemostcommonhouseholdtraditionalJapanesefurniturewasthetansu,adrawer,
chest type of furnishing that appeared in the latter half of the 17th century. By the time of
the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) there were many types of tansu used for storing money
and “virtually every possible item”, but the most common type was the clothes chest, isho-
dansu, and the second most common was the tea chest, cha-dansu. At the time, no one
had thought of the possibility to hang clothes, and thus every household folded and stored
clothes in the isho-dansu.
Fig.22 Tatami Storage16
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 Source: Appendix 4
Koizumi, Kazuko (1986) Traditional Japanese Furniture. Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo.
12.8|TATAMI STORAGE

38
Fig.23 Illustrated History of Japanese Furniture “Cabinetry“ (Koizumi, 1986:214)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Source: <http://www.pinterest.com/pin/185773553351852281/>- accessed 31.12.14
Fig.24 Stairway chest (Koizumi, 1986:25) Fig.25 Stairway storage18
Tansu in Japan had a profound exploration of shape and functional varieties that weren’t
common and maybe didn’t exist in the West.
For instance this ladder chest from the early 20th century, retained an idea of stairway
storing that was only recently disseminated, in the modern Western house, with the aid of
Internet design platforms, such as Pinterest.
12.9|TANSU

39
Fig.28 Garden (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
Fig.26 Engawa (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
Fig.27 Engawa (Gong and Parramore, 2009)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gong, C. and Parramore, L. (2009) JAPAN HOME Inspirational Design Ideas. Tuttle Publishing, Singapore.
Reynolds, Garr (2009) 7 Japanese Esthetic Principles to Change Your Thinking in <http://www.
designprinciplesftw.com/collections/7-japanese-esthetic-principles-to-change-your-thinking>
-accessed 16.05.16;
12.10|Veranda
The veranda or engawa is one of the intermediary places
of a Japanese traditional home. Usually it’s a place to
entertain friends, relax with the family and get closer to
nature (Koji, 1982).
12.11|Garden19
“It is raining. If you are inside a typical Western
home, you might not even be aware of the rain. In a
traditional Japanese home, the window openings are
wide and the sills, if there are any, are low. The solid
roof above spreads its eaves protectively around
the house and frames the garden for you to enjoy
during the rain. Seeing the garden glisten in the rain,
you feel peace and serenity” (Gong and Parramore,
2009:8).
Katei is the Japanese word for the ideal living space that
includes both the house (ka) and garden (tei). Visible from
the interior and intermediary spaces, the Japanese gardens
have a lot of planning, thought and contemplation
dedicated to them. It is one of the Japanese features
attracting to many Westerners, because it transports a
serene atmosphere with it.
12.12|Esthetics20
“If, as proposed by a Japanese anthropologist,
Western culture originated in the world of the
desert, then perhaps the desert dwellers’ view of
the universe gave birth to monotheism and saw
beauty in perfect symmetry that has little relevance
to nature as a whole. And, if, in contrast, Japanese
12.10|VERANDA

40
Fig.29 Asymmetry in Japanese flower arrangement (Yagi,1982)
culture is seen to have originated in the chaotic world of the forest, then perhaps
the pantheism that evolved led to an appreciation of the unbalanced harmony in the
tension created by dynamic forces locked in unresolved conflict” (Yagi, 1982:7).
There are many Japanese esthetic concepts that define the Japanese perspective on
beauty and its connection to nature. There is a general Japanese tendency to leave the
unexplainable unexplained. This is associated with the notion that an unexpressed feeling
is closer to the truth than expressions. “Chimmoku wa kin, yuben wa gin”, is a Japanese
proverb that means: eloquence is silver, silence is gold (Prasol, 2010:70).
Wabi (simple quietude) and Sabi (elegant simplicity), (wabi-sabi 侘寂) is an esthetic style
that emerged from the Zen Buddhist movements and intends to find beauty in the non-
materialistic spirit and harmony of nature. It’s usually portrayed in raw, asymmetric
objects with deep spiritual feelings.
Kanso (簡素) means simplicity or the removing of what is too much. It is expressed in flat,
simple and natural forms. It helps us value things in terms of clarity, by omitting what isn’t
essential, rather than enhancing the decorative aspect.
Fukinsei (不均整) means asymmetry or irregularity. The control over the balance of a
composition, through asymmetry, is a key element of the Zen esthetics. Nature itself is
full of beauty and harmony in their asymmetrical and balanced relations.
Shibui (渋味) has to do with an implicit beauty, or with being precisely what was intended
to be without developing beyond that. It is expressed in a direct way and is simple without
drawing much attention. The term is sometimes used to describe something cool but
minimal.
Datsuzoku (脱俗) is the release from the habit. It’s the escape from the daily routine and
from the ordinary. It transcends the conventional in a surprising way. The Japanese garden
itself is, “...made with the raw materials of nature and its success in revealing the essence
of natural things to us is an ultimate surprise. Many surprises await at almost every turn in
a Japanese Garden” (Tierney apud Reynolds, 2009).
12.12|ESTHETICS

41
These are only a few Japanese esthetic styles, but there are more, like for instance: the
seijaku (静寂), that describes the peace and calm that an object can carry and relates to
notions of loneliness, stillness, opposite from noise and disturbance.
“What lies at the heart of the Japanese perception of beauty is the desire to reproduce
nature, to achieve a fusion with nature, even in ar
chitecture, a most unnatural creation”
(Yagi, 1982:8).
12.13|Hygiene21
Finally the author is going to approach the Japanese hygiene preoccupation. Japanese
people were accustomed to living in restrained spaces and sharing their surroundings
with their families in a less private way that in the West. They are taught to have healthy
cleaning habits since kindergarten age—children are told to brush their teeth three times a
day, bathe and wash their heads with shampoo every day. This habit is naturally applied to
their homing lifestyles as well, in the form of removing shoes at the entrance to preserve
a clean floor.
Becausethetatamimatscouldalsobefracturedwithshoesorheavyfurniture,theinteriors
became easy to clean and maintain. Also, even though a Japanese bathroom is very clean,
there are special slippers placed in front of the bathroom door. But even these hygienic
habits—that don’t have any strong equivalent in the West—aren’t satisfying enough when
receiving a guest. In these special occasions, the housewife will prepare the house to a
“museum-quality” appearance.
Japanese are so involved in higyenic habits, they
will often go to day TV Shows and complain
about the lack of efficiency of bathroom facilities
and such. Japan is actually a pioneer on toilet
development. They have developed complex
toilets which have become the norm in newly
built apartments. Their toilets are most famous
for having: combos of toilet and sink; having seat
heating; and having water jets that sprinkle up to
clean the body.
Fig.30 Clean room with easy maintenance (Yagi,1982)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prasol, Alexander (2010) MODERN JAPAN Origins of the Mind. Japanese Mentality and Tradition in
Contemporary Life. World Scientific, Singapore.
12.13|HYGIENE

42
13|GLOBAL STRUGGLE WITH
LACK OF SPACE22
When we look at the current situation of the biggest cities in the world, like New York,
LondonorTokyo,wecanalreadyseetheproblemsthathavesurfacedduetooverpopulation.
In the short term there won’t be room for more buildings and this will make the existent
houses increasingly expensive.
According with the UN Population Division study of 2012, by the year 2070 the world
population will reach 9.3 billion people. Before that, in the year of 2040 New York City
will reach 9.2 million and won’t have a place to put all the new people. 55 new micro
apartments are beings constructed in the “My Micro NY” building in New York. They will
only be 23-34m2
(which is a number much closer to the average floor space per person in
China which is of 20m2
). These micro homes would sell for less money which would allow
a greater number of young people to be able to buy property. Rents will be ranging from
$939-1 873 vs. the present $2 000.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tokyo style micro homes in <http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tokyostyle-micro homes-with-
just-250-square-feet-of-space-will-help-solve-london-housing-crisis-a2952696.html>- accessed 31.12.14
Micro Apartments in <http://www.rawstory.com/2013/06/nyc-goes-the-way-of-tokyo-micro
apartments-proposed-as-solution-to-overcrowding/>- accessed 31.12.14
Tiny Apartments in <http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/apr/08/tiny-
apartments-modular-housing-affordable-skyscrapers-cities-community>- accessed 31.12.14
World Population Growth in <http://ourworldindata.org/data/population-growth-vital-statistics/
world-population-growth/>- accessed 31.12.14
2100
2015
9.3 billion
2070
1906
1779
1653
1526
1400 7.3 billion
)I
Fig.31 World Population Growth. Adapted from Source: <http://ourworldindata.org/data/population-
growth-vital-statistics/world-population-growth/>- accessed 16.05.16
World Population Growth:
USA & Canada
Southeastern Asia
Central America
Korea & Japan
South America
Oceania
Africa Europe Russia & Central-Asia
Middle East (incl Turkey )India+ China+
In 1950, an average of 3.37 people lived in each American home. In 2011, that
number had shrunk to 2.6 people. The average size of a new American home in
1950 was of 983ft2
and in 2011 that number grew to 2 480ft2
.This means that
we take up more than three times the amount of space per capita than we did
60 years ago.
In London thousands of “micro homes” of 23m2
should be built as part of a
nine-point plan to tackle London’s housing crisis, according to a leading Britain
architect. The number of young people able to buy property in London would
be doubled.

Saving Space With Furniture Design_Sara_Ferré.pdf

Saving Space With Furniture Design_Sara_Ferré.pdf

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